Assessing a Potential Constitutional Tort (State Negligence) Lawsuit with an Imaginary Title: “An Interested Legal Aid NGO (on behalf of the Victim, Abdul Kalam’s family and others) v State of Bangladesh”: State’s Liability to Pay Public Law Compensation

In recent days, incidents of constitutional torts, particularly state negligence, have been bizarrely noticed in Bangladesh, thoughtlessly. With regard to this, to illustrate, the recent unnatural death casualty of a pedestrian, namely Abdul Kalam, and the occurrence of the injury of two others, due to the falling of a ‘bearing pad’ from a pillar of the metro rail, operated by the government-owned company, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) which had taken place in Dhaka’s Farmgate on 26 October 2025. Therefore, this article aims to critically examine whether the family of the victim(s) or a concerned Legal Aid Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Bangladesh has a ‘locus standi’ to institute a Writ Petition before the High Court Division (HCD) of the Supreme Court (SC) in Bangladesh. In addition, this article also focuses on the right to get public law compensation from the government in light of the principle of ‘vicarious liability.’ Furthermore, this paper highlights the case decisions related to public law compensation in support of the legal right of the ‘aggrieved person’, to claim compensation in a potential civil suit. Moreover, this paper criticizes the absence of a statutory tort law framework and the lack of a time limitation provision in the legal system of Bangladesh, which plays a negative role in worsening the sufferings of a victim’s family. Finally, this paper argues that the denial of monetary compensation within a reasonable time frame is tantamount to a violation of human rights under Article 102(1) of the Constitution of Bangladesh.